


the midnight picnic once upon a time before the rain began

by Storygirl000



Category: Carmen Sandiego (Cartoon 2019)
Genre: Diners, Gen, Spoilers for Season 4, post-series fluff, the one romantic relationship is only mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:54:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28834476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Storygirl000/pseuds/Storygirl000
Summary: Player, Carmen, and several visits to a small diner in Niagara Falls.
Relationships: Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep/Julia Argent/Gray | Crackle, Player & Carmen Sandiego | Black Sheep, Player & everyone
Comments: 12
Kudos: 207





	the midnight picnic once upon a time before the rain began

**Author's Note:**

> Because the finale hurt and I needed to fill in the time between the end and the epilogue
> 
> Title comes from the song “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega.

Rita’s Diner wasn’t the best-known diner in the world, nor the fanciest. It was a simple place sitting on a street corner in a neighborhood in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

It was also within walking distance of Player’s house and it had wi-fi, making it the perfect place to go to when his parents asked him to leave his room for once in his life. Usually, he went over there, ordered his usual meal (a burger and a small soda), and went to work on whatever projects he had.

More recently, though, it had become the perfect place to meet up with his best friend.

With V.I.L.E. down for the count, both he and Carmen had far more free time on their hands than they’d had in the past. And so, they’d made a habit out of meeting each other at the diner whenever they could.

They talked about all sorts of topics – ranging from various facts about the places they’d seen to each other’s personal lives to worries over V.I.L.E. reforming again. No matter what, their conversations were always lengthy, and they never seemed to run out of things to talk about.

Of course, it wasn’t always just the two of them.

00000

The people who joined them most frequently were, unsurprisingly, Zack and Ivy.

Naturally, neither of them were lacking in conversation topics either. Zack would discuss his favorite action movies at length (and Player would try to politely listen – unless he’d also seen the movie, at which point he’d give his own two cents on them), while Ivy’s favorite discussion topics veered more towards mechanics.

Occasionally, if the diner was sufficiently empty, they’d talk about their time as A.C.M.E. agents. This always seemed to end with the reminder that Zack was now apparently the Chief’s favorite agent – Ivy usually griped that said chief seemed to have a fondness for the idiots (citing Chase as an example), Zack would protest, and Player and Carmen would be amused by the ensuing argument.

But again, they mostly just talked about random stuff.

(Of course, there was also that one time they’d run into his old teacher at the diner, and said teacher immediately recognized Zack and Ivy as the exterminators that had nerve-pinched him. But he preferred not to think about that incident.)

00000

Shadow-san was the second most frequent guest.

Of course, he didn’t talk often; Player and Carmen would do most of the talking, and he’d occasionally interrupt with his own thoughts. But he was someone Player liked having around either way.

One time, Shadow-san had managed to convince his older brother to join them at the diner. Something about having him meet more of the family. Hideo hadn’t particularly cared for the menu options at the diner, but Player had had a pleasant conversation with him on Japanese history.

(Before they left, Player had managed to overhear Hideo asking his brother “Just how many kids did you adopt after you left?!”

Shadow-san had responded, with a world-weary sigh, “Too many.”)

00000

Sometimes, Carmen brought Julia along for the ride; sometimes, she brought Gray; and sometimes, she brought both.

Player considered them good company (even if he was still a  _ little _ jealous of Carmen and Gray’s closeness). They both brought interesting topics to the table – Julia and her studies regarding ancient artifacts, Gray and his experiences working at the Sydney Opera House.

That wasn’t what interested Player the most, though.

His social skills weren’t the best, but he knew what was going on. How Julia blushed every time Carmen complimented her, how Gray would playfully flirt with his old classmate, how Carmen sometimes floundered attempting to talk to both of them...

And yet, he had no idea what would happen. He had no idea if V.I.L.E.’s faculty had taught her anything about the birds and the bees, if she really knew what was happening. He wasn’t sure how he’d mention it to her, either.

At least, he wasn’t sure until all three of them walked into the diner one day, matching smiles on their faces and matching rings on their fingers.

00000

On a few occasions, Carmen had brought Chase to the diner.

These were always a tad awkward – it was clear Chase was still getting used to considering Carmen an ally and not an enemy, and it was taking Player some time to adjust to the same thing.

(Also, on his first visit, Chase mistook Ontario for Quebec, and Player wasn’t sure if he could forgive that.)

But eventually, they warmed up to each other a bit. Chase would regale him and Carmen with tales of his days at Interpol, before his fateful first encounter with La Femme Rouge; they, in turn, would tell him about their own early missions.

On one occasion, Julia came along with them. That had been an interesting night – he’d mostly spent it tag-teaming with her on toning down their respective partners’ sensational stories.

Eventually, Chase became as welcome a presence as everyone else.

(Though Player still wasn’t sure he could forgive the Ontario/Quebec thing.)

00000

On one occasion, Carmen brought someone Player didn’t recognize.

She looked like an older version of Carmen – graying red-brown hair pulled into a ponytail, a similar facial shape...the biggest differences were the brown eyes and thinner eyebrows.

He realized who she was before Carmen could even introduce her.

“Player,” Carmen said, “this is Carlotta Valdez. My mother.”

They talked, and Player learned all sorts of things about Carmen and her family – how Carlotta and Dexter met, what she did after Carmen’s disappearance, the works. Carlotta, in turn, asked how Carmen managed to bring someone so young into her usual activities, and they related the story of how they met.

At the end of the visit, Carlotta thanked him.

“For what?” he asked.

“For keeping my daughter company all these years,” she replied. “Also, for being the only one of her friends who hasn’t broken into my house yet.”

Carmen snorted, and suddenly Player had several more questions.

00000

But the majority of the time, it was just Player and Carmen, sitting in a booth at Rita’s Diner, catching up on life.

He’s okay with that.


End file.
